Tech Tips

My friend Ami Slavin requested that I write about this important topic in response to the horrifying videos showing up online of death and gore associated with compressors exploding. He pointed out that the “diesel effect” can be the cause, so let's explore what may be—and likely is—leading to these horrible incidents. In a diesel […]

This article is part 5 of a 5-part series on troubleshooting by Senior Refrigeration and HVAC tech Jeremy Smith. This step might be the most challenging part of troubleshooting. We've got a “Most Likely candidate” for the trouble, but we don't know for certain that's what is wrong. So, we have to combine our customer […]

This article is part 4 of a 5-part series on troubleshooting by Senior Refrigeration and HVAC tech Jeremy Smith Ok, so we've got our data scribbled and scratched out on paper. Maybe a bit of grease, dirt, and oil, too, if you're doing things right—blood if you're doing it wrong. Now, time to take a […]

This article is part 3 in a 5-part series by Senior Refrigeration and HVAC Technician Jeremy Smith. Let's start with step#1 in the flowchart: Gather data. This is why we spend money on those fancy digital manifolds, shiny electrical meters, and other gadgets, widgets, and doodads. It isn't to brag about them on Facebook; it's […]

This article is the second in a 5-part series by Senior Refrigeration and HVAC tech Jeremy Smith.  The Ground rules I've spent some time thinking about troubleshooting and the processes and procedures that I use to find problems. Not the “why isn't my air-conditioner running?” problems, but the “Things just aren't quite right”-type problems—the really […]

This article was written by Senior Refrigeration tech Jeremy Smith. Big thanks to Jeremy for his contributions to HVAC School and the tech community. Having spent many years in the trade and many years reading posts from techs on forums and social media, a big issue that I see is that troubleshooting is something of […]

As a technician gains skill, they will learn that regularly testing your tools is a huge part of success. It isn't long in the field before techs find out that just because a meter or gauge gives a particular reading, it doesn't ALWAYS mean it is correct. Vacuum is one of these areas. Everything in […]

The year was 1774, and a man named Tom traveled the Atlantic from England to visit his friend Ben in Philly. Tom was 37 years old, and he had already been through a failed business and lost his wife and child during childbirth. He was a troublemaker by some accounts—a free spirit at the very […]

This article (and many other great training articles) was written by my friend and great educator Jamie Kitchen. This article was originally posted on LinkedIn HERE and has been republished for your benefit with his permission. Thanks, Jamie! I remember back in college I was immersed in a particularly challenging problem dealing with poly-phase circuits. […]